Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-18777-1 — Ibsen, Scandinavia and the Making of a World Drama Narve Fulsås , Tore Rem Frontmatter More Information

IBSEN, SCANDINAVIA AND THE MAKING OF A WORLD DRAMA

Henrik Ibsen’s drama is the most prominent and lasting contribution of the cultural surge seen in Scandinavian literature in the later nineteenth century. When he made his debut in in , the nation’s literary presence was negligible, yet by  Ibsen had become one of Europe’s most famous authors. Contrary to the standard narrative of his move from restrictive provincial origins to liberating European exile, Narve Fulsås and Tore Rem show how Ibsen’s trajectory was preconditioned on his continued embedded- ness in Scandinavian society and culture, and that he experienced great success in his home markets. Ibsen, Scandinavia and the Making of a World Drama traces how Ibsen’s works first travelled outside Scandinavia and studies the mechanisms of his appropriation in , Britain and France. Engaging with theories of book dis- semination and world literature, and re-assessing the emergence of ‘peripheral’ literary nations, this book provides new perspectives on the work of this major figure of European literature and theatre.

 ÅS is Professor of Modern History at the University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway, where his work focuses on Norwegian cultural and intellectual history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has edited Ibsen’s letters for the new critical edition, Henrik Ibsens skrifter (–), and is chief editor of the journal Historisk tidsskrift.   is Professor of British Literature at the University of . He has been head of the board of the Centre for and has published on Victorian literature, book history and the early English-language appropriations of Ibsen. He is editor of the new Ibsen editions in the Penguin Classics series.

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IBSEN, SCANDINAVIA AND THE MAKING OF A WORLD DRAMA

NARVE FULSÅS University of Tromsø

TORE REM

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www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/ : ./ © Narve Fulsås and Tore Rem  This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published  Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data : Fulsås, Narve, - author. | Rem, Tore, author. : Ibsen, Scandinavia and the making of a world drama / Narve Fulsås, University of Tromsø, Norway ; Tore Rem, University of Oslo, Norway. : First edition. | New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, .| Includes bibliographical references and index. :   |   (Hardback) : : Ibsen, Henrik, -–Criticism and interpretation. | Ibsen, Henrik, -–Appreciation–Scandinavia. | Ibsen, Henrik, -–Appreciation–Europe. | Ibsen, Henrik, -–Influence. :     |  ./–dc LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/  ---- Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Contents

List of Figures page viii Acknowledgements x Note on the Text xii Chronology xiii List of Abbreviations xv

Introduction   From Stage to Page  Norwegian State, Danish Culture  Breaking the Danish Hegemony: The Norwegian Theatre Project  National Theatre in a Transnational Context  How Bad Were Ibsen’s Theatre Years?   and the Crisis of the Pan-Scandinavian Movement  The Transition to Danish Gyldendal   No Escape  From Norway to Rome  The Ethos of Vocation  Reconstructing Authorship  The Award of a State Grant  Antipolitics  Antiliberalism  The Ironies of History  In the Conservative Camp   Open Futures  Recirculation and Copyright  National-Historical Revival?  Ibsen’s German Strategy  Pillars of the Community: Social Criticism in a Comic Mode  Ibsen and the Emergence of the Literary Left 

v

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vi Contents  Nora’s Exit  Where Did Nora’s Exit Come From?  The Social Question  German Setback  Advance and Retreat: From to   The Sphinx  Income  Books  Secrecy and Launching Fever  Theatre  ‘Ibsen’ vs. Ibsen  ‘The Double Rupture’:  and the Transformation of Politics  Canonisation  Literature in Small Nations   European Breakthrough  Early German Efforts  Imperial Appropriations  Radical Appropriations  The Separation of Literature and Drama  The State of the Printed Play: Britain  German Breakthrough  From Germany to France  Faithful Translators: William Archer  Walter Scott: Educational Literature for the People  Ibsen Actresses  Ghosts and the Independent Theatre   Copyright and Circulation  Moving Home  The Late Plays  The Scandinavian Market in the s  Copyright, Circulation and Synchronisation  Germany: Fischer vs. Reclam and Langen  Britain: From Scott to Heinemann  Income   The Many Ibsens  Scandinavian and German Mainstream  France: With the Cosmopolitans  Britain: Classic Literature, Independent Theatre  Ibsen and a British National Theatre  The Effectiveness of Censorship  The Revival of the Literary Drama 

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Contents vii Conclusion: The Provincial World Poet 

Appendices  Archival Sources  Bibliography  Index 

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Figures

I. Ibsen at Karl Johan’s street in , with the Parliament building (Stortinget) in the background. Source: Coloured cardboard card. Artist: Gustav Lærum. Courtesy of Erik Henning Edvardsen. page  . The Norwegian Theatre in Kristiania, where Ibsen served as artistic director –. Source: Illustreret Nyhedsblad  November . Artist: Unknown. Courtesy of Erik Henning Edvardsen.  . ‘ as disciplinarian’ (December ). Source: Vikingen  December , vol. , No. ,p.. Artist: Unknown. Courtesy of The National Library of Norway.  . Ibsen as Sphinx. Source: Freie Bühne’s Ibsen banquet in – front page of menu,  March . Artist: Max Liebermann. Courtesy of The National Library of Norway.  . Ibsen surrounded by English tourists on Karl Johan street, . Source: Vikingen  August . Artist: Olaf Krohn. Courtesy of The National Library of Norway.  . ‘Ever higher!’ [‘Stadigvæk højere op!’] (early ). Source: Tyrihans no. ,  January . Artist: ‘Pejk’ (Olaf Gulbransson). © Olaf Gulbransson / BONO, Oslo . Courtesy of The National Library of Norway.  . ‘Today, at . am, Henrik Ibsen brought his manuscript to the post office’. Source: Blæksprutten, Christmas issue . Artist: Carsten Ravn. Courtesy of The Royal Library, Copenhagen.  . Trade cards with Ibsen portraits. Source: Ogden’s Guinea Gold Cigarettes; Collection Felix Potin; Fabricia de Productos Chiminos, Claus & Schweder, Porto. Photographers: Daniel Georg Nyblin; Daniel Georg Nyblin; Julius Cornelius Schaarwächter. Courtesy of Peter Larsen.  viii

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Figures ix . Illustration to ‘The Wild Duck’. Source: F. Anstey (T.A. Guthrie): Mr. Punch’s Pocket Ibsen (London: W. Heinemann, , ). Artist: Bernard Partridge. Courtesy of The National Library of Norway.  C. Illustration to ‘’. Source: F. Anstey: Mr. Punch’s Pocket Ibsen (London: W. Heinemann, , ). Artist: Bernard Partridge. Courtesy of The National Library of Norway.  A. Sources of Ibsen’s income, –.(Kroner) Sources: Henrik Ibsen: Regnskapsbøker [Account books] –,  vols., NLN, Ms fol .  A. Ibsen’s books: print runs. Source: RDL, Gyldendalske Boghandel. Nordisk Forlag A/S. A. Regnskaper, : Forlagskladde –, vols. H–J.  A. Ibsen’s first seasons at Christiania Theater, –. (Season:  September– August.). Source: Øyvind Anker, Christiania Theater’s repertoire – (Oslo: Gyldendal, ).  A. Sources of Ibsen’s extra-Nordic income, –.(Kroner) Source: Henrik Ibsen, Regnskapsbok (Account book) –, NLN, Ms fol . 

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Acknowledgements

The end of the nineteenth century experienced what may be called a Scandinavian moment in world literature. This moment’s most prominent feature and lasting contribution were the plays of Henrik Ibsen. When Ibsen made his literary debut in Norway in , the nation’s literature was negligible. By , he had become one of the most famous authors of Europe and made Nordic literature a marketing . How was such an extraordinary trajectory possible? Our contribution to answering that question has emerged from our involvements in two large publishing projects, namely the new critical edition of Ibsen’s complete works, Henrik Ibsens skrifter (HIS) and the new Penguin Classics Ibsen edition. It has been completed within the research project ‘The Scandinavian Moment in World Literature’, supported by the Norwegian Research Council and UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and is, more generally, indebted to our long-time work within reception studies, book history, intellectual history and world literature and drama. Shorter parts of this book rework and expand materials previously published elsewhere. These include Narve Fulsås’ articles ‘The de- dramatization of history and the prose of bourgeois life’, Nordlit, no.  (), – (Chapter ), ‘Ibsen misrepresented: Canonization, obliv- ion, and the need for history’, Ibsen Studies, vol. , no.  (), – (Chapter ) and Innledning til brevene: Forfatterrett og utgivelsespolitikk – -årene: Det tyske markedet, www.ibsen.uio.no/brev (Chapter ). The starting point for our collaboration was HIS, and we would like to thank its main editor, Vigdis Ystad, as well as Christian Janss, Ståle Dingstad and Aina Nøding. Many people have contributed comments and input on a number of different occasions. We would also like to thank all those who have either hosted us or participated in our own seminars in the course of this process. We would like to express our gratitude to our PhD students Maria Purtoft and Henning Hansen for helping to create a stimulating research environment. x

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Acknowledgements xi We are indebted to the Scandinavian Department at University of California, Berkeley, St Catherine’s College, Oxford and Christ Church, Oxford, for hosting us at various points; to the for co-organising a seminar on the ‘Modern Breakthrough’ in the autumn of ; and to Fondet for dansk-norsk samarbeid for facilitating a stay at their wonderful Schæffergården near Copenhagen. We have received gen- erous financial support from the Norwegian Research Council, as well as from the Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators’ Association and St Catherine’s College, Oxford. Special thanks go to those who have read and commented on drafts of the manuscript at different stages: Terence Cave, Peter D. McDonald, Martin Puchner, Kirsten Shepherd-Barr and Cambridge University Press’s two anonymous readers. Our editor Kate Brett has throughout the process been wonderfully supportive, competent and efficient.

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Note on the Text

Quoting Ibsen in English necessarily involves the use of a number of different editions. For Ibsen’s plays, two editions have been particularly important. For Ibsen’s early plays, we have (mostly) used (–), edited by James W. McFarlane. For Ibsen’s contemporary plays, we have, where available, quoted the New Penguin Classics edition ( vols., –), edited by Tore Rem. We have also adopted the Penguin edition’s new English title Pillars of the Community for the play usually called , unless the reference is to an English translation or production with that last title. Of Ibsen’s letters, just a small selection of those considered most import- ant are translated. When a letter already exists in English translation, we have quoted it from the two main editions: Letters and Speeches, trans. Evert Sprinchorn () and Letters of Henrik Ibsen, trans. John Nilsen Laurvik and Mary Morison (). Otherwise, the footnotes will only give the addressee and date of the letter, and often having ‘with comment(s)’ added, referring to the critical and commented edition of Ibsen’s letters in Henrik Ibsens skrifter vols. –, ed. Narve Fulsås (–), digital edition: www.ibsen.uio.no/brev. In these cases, translations are ours. To those able to navigate Norwegian, the comments will provide additional references to those listed in the bibliography. Other translations into English are also ours, unless otherwise stated. In the nineteenth century the name of the Norwegian capital was ‘Christiania’, gradually replaced by ‘Kristiania’ from the s before becoming Oslo in . We have opted for consistently using Kristiania for the capital while alternating according to the institutions’ own practices for institutional names, like Christiania Theater, where the old spelling was preserved until the theatre was closed down in  and replaced by Nationaltheatret.

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Chronology

–: Skien ,  March: Born –: ,  April: (Catilina) published –: Kristiania (Oslo) ,  September: (Kjæmpehøien) performed (published January–February ) ,  and  June: , or: The Love of a Politician (Norma eller en Politikers Kjærlighed) published –: Bergen ,  January: St John’s Night (Sancthansnatten) performed (published ) ,  January: Lady Inger (Fru Inger til Østeraad) performed (published May–August ) ,  January: The Feast at Solhoug (Gildet paa Solhoug) performed (published  March ) ,  January: performed (published ) –: Kristiania (Oslo) ,  April: The Vikings at Helgeland (Hærmændene paa Helgeland) published , January: The poem ‘On the Heights’ (‘Paa Vidderne’) published ,  February: The poem ‘’ published ,  December: Love’s Comedy (Kjærlighedens Komedie) published , October: (Kongs-Emnerne) published

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xiv Chronology –: Rome ,  March: Brand published ,  November: published –: Dresden ,  September: The League of Youth (De unges Forbund) published ,  May: Poems () published ,  October: (Kejser og Galilæer) published –: ,  October: Pillars of the Community (Samfundets støtter) published –: Rome and Amalfi –: Munich ,  December: A Doll’s House (Et dukkehjem) published –: Rome ,  December: Ghosts (Gengangere) published ,  November: An Enemy of the People (En folkefiende) published ,  November: The Wild Duck (Vildanden) published –: Munich ,  November: Rosmersholm published ,  November: (Fruen fra havet) published ,  December: Hedda Gabler published –: Kristiania (Oslo) ,  December: (Bygmester Solness) published ,  December: Little Eyolf (Lille Eyolf) published ,  December: published ,  December: (Når vi døde vågner) published –: Collected works (Samlede værker) vols. – published ,  May: Dies

For a detailed chronology, see Ståle Dingstad and Aina Nøding: ‘Tidstavle –’, in Narve Fulsås, ed., Biografisk leksikon til Ibsens brev – med tidstavle. Acta Ibseniana X– (Oslo: Centre for Ibsen Studies, ), –.

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Abbreviations

BL: British Library, London NLN: National Library of Norway [Nasjonalbiblioteket], Oslo NLS: National Library of Sweden [Kungliga biblioteket], Stockholm PRO: Public Record Office, London RDL: The Royal Danish Library [Det Kongelige Bibliotek], Copenhagen VAM: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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